Wambach: World Cup final seemed fake, I thought I was in heaven

The forward could not express her feelings after her side demolished Japan 5-2 in the final, with four goals coming in the first 16 minutes

Abby Wambach was in disbelief after United States beat Japan 5-2 in the World Cup final on Sunday, admitting that she thought she was in heaven as her side strolled to victory.

USA took a four goal lead after 16 minutes, with a Carli Lloyd hat-trick and a goal from Lauren Holiday essentially killing the game off in the early stages. While Japan pulled two back later on, any hopes of a comeback were wiped out after 54 minutes when Tobin Heath added a fifth to secure the title.

Wambach, who missed out on a place in the starting XI for the final but came on for the final 10 minutes, said she was always confident her side would win the tournament, but was struggling to come to terms with how "bizarre" the final match was.

“I literally don’t know how I feel,” Wambach told reporters. “It’s a bizarre thing that’s going on right now because of the way it kind of happened.

“I’m just so proud to be on this team and proud to be a part of, in my opinion, what is something really special. It wasn’t just Carli Lloyd who won us this World Cup, although tonight she showed us that she’s a huge reason why we have this World Cup title.

“It’s not easy to not start one of the most decorated goalscorers in the world, but coach Jill Ellis and the staff were confident, as was I, in the players that were starting ahead of me.

“I would never imagine the final would go as wildly, dramatically, smoothly as it just did for us. Seven goals in the final is a little bit outrageous in my opinion, but the first 16 minutes, it seemed surreal, it seemed fake.

"I think I died and this is what my heaven looks like because I could not put together what was going on.”